Do you use a diary?

whelan2

Have one here, probably dont write enough stuff in it. All lodgements go on pages at the back. Every mionth I write what is owed and what I can pay and cross it off when it comes out of my account. Any fertiliser spread goes in it too and any sprays bought/or used. Oh has a diary and it's great he writes a few things that happened every day. Was looking at last years and he had wriiten how many silage bales we had left on 1st of January how full the slurry towers were etc, good to bench mark year on year. So do you have a diary and what do you put in it?

ganmo

Went to buy one there today and the stationary shop didn't have any!!

I need to write things down to keep things straight in my head.

mayota

Ya started writing in a notebook last year. Fert dates, spraying details, dosing, silage, topping and other random stuff like maintanence, fencing. Made a to do list and can cross off as things get done.

Coolfresian

Yea I use a notebook, got a diary this year with a calender so must start using that :-D very handy to look back on

feartuath

Use a diary to record every daily task and all dates and time's for all animals, paddocks closing topping etc.

I use the bic biros with the different colour inks to note to do lists etc.

whelan2

ganmo wrote: »

Went to buy one there today and the stationary shop didn't have any!!

I need to write things down to keep things straight in my head.

Got one in heatons the other day. A4 a page a day reduced to €3 from €6

Who2

Usually get a couple, il have one for odds and ends and one with any major stuff in it. It's a necessity really , I'd have forgotten tomorrow what I'd done today without it.

RedPeppers

Have been keeping a farm diary here since 94. Find it great to look back and compare years. All farming events plus weather description sports results and any other local or national stories are included . Worst thing is leaving it a few days and not been able to think what day something was done!

blue5000

Yes have one here since the late '80s, good habit to have.

davidk1394

Using one here since 08,. Write in the weather what ever was done on the day. Put an mark on the planner on the back of the diary on dates that important tasks were done e.g scanning, setting grass, putting out the rams. Easy way to keep track of stuff

Muckit

Yes they are a great idea. Where would any farmer be going without one? There's always something going on. You think you'll remember something but you won't!! Then there's a big hoo haa when forms have to be filled in! Save yourself the headmelt and buy a dairy!

Signpost

Old lad has had a diary since 1981 here. Originally was weather, key events etc. Now diary is:

Weather + Rain Fall done first thing in morning
Where cows are per day and last 2 years grass covers
Results of milk collections to tally up with fields
Fertilizer spread & how much
Slurry, Silage etc dates
Key dates like moving calves, letting bull off with heifers, servicing tractors etc
Once first bale fed in winter will be a tally on 1st of month until cows back out full time of how much feed left, how much slurry in tanks etc
Back pages would be lists of dates cows calve & to what etc. Fill this out with if calf is sold too. Have page for other sales like culls etc, handy to have all details in one place for accountant.

There is literally nothing done on the farm not written down into the diary, don't know how the place would manage without it, great to have a written record of the stuff you think you will remember. Time to time old lad puts random non agri stuff in there, cracks me up a bit but sure if it keeps him quite I ignore it!

I said

Tb test dates,bales used,dosing dates,slurry out,silage cut and work done around the place.Cattle housed and let out.

farmerjj

I have 3 notebooks now, one for calvings/dosing/drying/AI etc.
2nd is diary with day to day stuff.
3rd is any quote for fert/machinery/diesel/telephone and broadband
Bit of a dose filling in but v handy to double check stuff

einn32

Yeah I have a pen and a little notepad in my top pocket. Record medicines I give jobs to do etc.

RD10

Using diary for years. everything goes into it. down to if an animal was lame and which foot it was on, so i can refer back to it if its a recurring problem.
-A.i/how many(if any) repeats each cow had
-Vet visits
-calving details-from when i start cutting back their feed intake to when they start bagging up(some might not bag up at all) and calving itself,then how long it took calf to up&suck etc.
I have a cow when shes dried off starts sucking off another cow every year.
-Which ai bulls suit or dont suit a certain cow.
-minouere/slurry/dosing
-If calves were sick i refer back to what i gave them before and how much they got - saves on ringing the vet sometimes.
-when cows are moved & How long they get out of each field
-record if any cows have bad temperaments even if you notice small things about them during summer.
-any signs of coughing and who's doing it- didnt dose in time this year and am having a knock on effect now because of it..a costly one at that. i wont be skipping over that next year.
-recording how many bales are used per week
-when cattle will hopefully be let out
theres loads more i could go on with but im sure ye get the gist!

Muckit

Whelan I was just thinking you probably keep a 'Daily Dairy Diary'? :pac:

CloughCasey1

Started last yr. Mainly for grazing rotation dates, costs in and out. Hay and silage cutting dates. Also most handy is fert dates especially for silage as you can be adding up the units to make sure a lad wouldnt get a burst to cut too early. Work done around place. Dosing, injections etc etc. Easy fill out proper paperwork from it then every few months (instead of making it all up!!).

TITANIUM.

I used to keep one but now I just make a note in the calendar on the phone of anything important.

I said

I said wrote: »

Tb test dates,bales used,dosing dates,slurry out,silage cut and work done around the place.Cattle housed and let out.

I'll have to look at my diary to see did I forget anything

patsy_mccabe

Muckit wrote: »

Whelan I was just thinking you probably keep a 'Daily Dairy Diary'? :pac:

And Whelans real name is Daisy Dalton from Drogheda.

ArKl0w

Good lord pens paper diary ? Ancient

I have a whatsapp group ,everything goes in there
Cows bulling,calving dates,tubes,medical etc
Photos taken of documents related to farm
Which groups dosed,scanning
How many in a paddock etc
Everything is date and time stamped by whatsapp and saved to the cloud aswell as being instantly available on my phone for handy reference and transcribed to kings wood then as necessary

Muckit

whatsapp group? I don't get it. Do the cows ever text back?

ArKl0w

Muckit wrote: »

whatsapp group? I don't get it. Do the cows ever text back?

Haha
Stick the wife/husband/son/daughter/whoever else that needs the information on the group

Muckit

They're are some great diary apps and ways of storing notes, but you need good internet coverage or it is next to useless.

I've tried Dario and Evernote and still find myself back to the pen and A2 diary.

Lady Haywire

Muckit wrote: »

whatsapp group? I don't get it. Do the cows ever text back?

I do sorta the same, would take a lot of photos and upload them to imgur with details that I might need later on, dates cows calved on, fert out, silage cut, etc etc. Dads memory for dates is usually spot on while mine is like a sieve though, if it's not got a tag on it I won't remember shíte about it!!

jfh

We usually write all important on a calendar, worked out well until someone throws out that calendar at the end of the year & I'm trying to find the date bull was let off with cows ðŸ™

Now I use Google keep on the phone

IH784man

Just after getting one for sheep this year,keep invoices and purchases /sales of sheep to see if there money in them as I'm only really starting out.

Sheep breeder

Keeping one for years on calving, service dates, bulls in/ out, Fert and slurry spreading, silage bales and straw gathered, scanning,shearing, dosing etc
Good to look back on year from year to see how thinks are going,
Stock take of bales at the end of month etc.
And now have the kids filling if out and now doing computer sheets for alot of the sheep work.

f140

I keep it filled up as best I can. the best part I find about it is comparing each year to the next or if I ever needed to look up a date of when something was done etc.

Bog Man 1

There has been a Diary kept here continuously since 1947 . Most of them are still around . Most days there would be an entry about some event . If I buy or sell something I put the price and quantity in the Diary . If I am out and about I send myself a text message for filling in the Diary later . I have started to use the Calender on the Phone for future events so the days of writing stuff on calf skin might be numbered .

Base price

I used to be very good at keeping a daily record of farming and domestic events in a diary.
Nowdays I only record calf purchases (€/hd), how much I got (hd) for private cattle sales, contractor charges - slurry spreading & baling dates, dosing dates and irregular type purchases.
I prefer not to rely on my phone/laptop even though they are tethered to the "cloud". As the old saying goes - paper never refused ink and one can look back on previous diaries with ease.

Bullocks

Bog Man 1 wrote: »

There has been a Diary kept here continuously since 1947 . Most of them are still around . Most days there would be an entry about some event . If I buy or sell something I put the price and quantity in the Diary . If I am out and about I send myself a text message for filling in the Diary later . I have started to use the Calender on the Phone for future events so the days of writing stuff on calf skin might be numbered .

How do you send youself a text msg ?

whelan2

My Granny kept a diary all the time. She's dead a few years now..My mother has started reading them recently, loads of things she never knew happened and loads of things she had forgotten in it. They also lived on a farm and the kids did alot of physical work and walked long distances to school etc.

C0N0R

Bullocks wrote: »

How do you send youself a text msg ?

Put your own number in and send the message

patsy_mccabe

I would consider myself fairly computer literate but you can't beat a diary for keeping records. I have a small diary that I keep all entries on. Fierce handy to be able to just flip back 3 weeks to monitor heats etc. A big notebook then that has all the important stuff like silage fertiliser tractor maintenance data etc.

stretch film

C0N0R wrote: »

Put your own number in and send the message

It's easier to make an instant voice recording imo than typing up a text .

Fill out the diary later.

casualguy

If you are into software, vueminder is a good desktop app. If you label activities clearly, you can instantly check previous months/years similar events by the search facility. Can be stored on usb as well. Google calendars/outlooks etc can be synced as well.

Buster2000

Newby that I am have been using excel here .never runs out of paper and can be easily searched without wearing out my fingers going through multiple notebooks...reminders go on Iphone and outlook now if I could just get a secretary....